Noticing the positives of beginning teachers’ practice: Supporting the transition between teaching practice placements

Photo by Binti Malu on Pexels.com Recently, I encountered this tweet passing on wisdom to mentors about to receive a new Initial Teacher Training/ Initial Teacher Education (ITT/ ITE) student for their second teaching practice placement: I have previously talked about why it can be difficult for ITE students when they change placement during their … Continue reading Noticing the positives of beginning teachers’ practice: Supporting the transition between teaching practice placements →

Anton’s wisdom: Finding the joy in mentoring beginning teachers

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have a soft spot for Strictly Come Dancing. During Saturday evening’s (2023) final, Anton Du Beke uttered the following words, when addressing Ellie Leach following her final dance of the competition: “I’ve danced where you have [for] many years, and the joy of sitting here is … Continue reading Anton’s wisdom: Finding the joy in mentoring beginning teachers →

Drawing back the curtain: Supporting beginning teachers to make the most of their first few weeks on placement

Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com When you are a teacher everyone thinks they know how to do your job and suspects they could do it too. By virtue of having been a pupil themselves at one point, the school environment and job of teaching feels sufficiently familiar to be open to conjecture. Every year I … Continue reading Drawing back the curtain: Supporting beginning teachers to make the most of their first few weeks on placement →

Curiosity and the space to ask a question: building a dialogic culture to shift the focus onto pupil learning

Photo by Leeloo Thefirst on Pexels.com Recently I was privileged to see a beginning teacher nearing the end of their ITE year teaching a great GCSE history lesson. The pupils demonstrated excellent retrieval of subject knowledge from previous lessons. They were given opportunities to acquire new subject knowledge and make sense of this when combined … Continue reading Curiosity and the space to ask a question: building a dialogic culture to shift the focus onto pupil learning →

The elephant in the room: Why the subject specific training of beginning teachers matters

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com A number of years ago, I watched a lesson where the beginning teacher had been schooled in a set of systematised generic teaching strategies. They had diligently practised and tried to implement these strategies in their lessons, but they were struggling. They were also frustrated. They felt like no … Continue reading The elephant in the room: Why the subject specific training of beginning teachers matters →

Walking the walk, just not talking the talk: Developing teacher voice and classroom persona

Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com Damien is a strong beginning teacher. He is diligent and organised and has developed effective approaches to planning. He can effectively ‘run a room’ and his classroom environment is calm. Transitions between tasks are smooth, he forms positive relationships with pupils, and behaviour management is usually effective. He fits well … Continue reading Walking the walk, just not talking the talk: Developing teacher voice and classroom persona →

Unintentional Teachers: Looking beyond vocation to attract people into the teaching profession

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I didn’t intend to become a teacher. I knew I wanted a career which was, to my youthful judgement, ‘socially responsible’. I knew I liked people, although I wasn’t 100% sure about young children. For personal reasons I needed to stay living in my university town. I also knew I … Continue reading Unintentional Teachers: Looking beyond vocation to attract people into the teaching profession →